1. Working across cultures

2. What is cultural programming? Place of birth Education Will influence how we work and do business later in life

3. each country seems to have developed its own slightly unique approach to certain business situations

4. When dealing with colleagues or clients from a different culture..... you need to know two things – your own approach and the approach of the other culture

5. Different approaches to management Hierarchy Managers are: supervisors, instructors Democracy Managers are: Mentors, coaches (participative)

6. What one culture feels to be a very positive communication style can often be considered a very poor communication style in another...

7. The language: English non-native speakers are obviously at a serious disadvantage in all international communication scenarios

8. Directness Truth, clear Accuse diplomats of evasiveness, dishonesty Diplomacy If truth has a negative impact, it will be avoided Find direct cultures rude, abrupt When both approaches meet: International communication styles

9. Direct Cultures include: Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, USA, Australia Diplomatic Cultures include: Japan, India, Korea, UK, Belgium

10. Calm and reserved = Professional necessity You are wrong Can be misinterpreted Calmness and emotion Emotional = engagement, interest Lack of emotion = disinterest, disingaged

11. Reserved Cultures Include: UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan, India Emotional Cultures Include: Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, Saudi Arabia, Brazil

12. Self-promotion and self- deprecation

13. 1. difficult to speak positively about themselves and prefer to understate their abilities and self-deprecate about themselves 2. self-promotional and would find it bizarre to say they were not very good at something when in fact they were skilled in that area

14. What will self promotional think about self- deprecating? Will believe them (their weaknesses) What will self-deprecating think about self- promoting? They are arrogant, aggressive

15. Self-deprecating cultures include: Japan, China, Korea, UK, Finland Self-promotional cultures include: USA, Australia, France, Brazil

16. Written vs spoken cultures Written-word cultures include: Germany, UK, USA, Sweden, Netherlands Spoken-word cultures include: Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil

17. Typical examples of cultural differences OK Islamic countries = rude sexual sign India, Indonesia = wishing all the best

18. Pauses between words: Not too long in America and Arabic countries in India and Japan pauses can give a contradictory sense to the spoken words silence is perceived as perfectly comfortable in India, Indonesia and Japan, unnecessarily talkative is considered rude and a sign of poor self-contro

19. If invited to dinner When do you leave? Asian countries it is well- mannered to leave right after the dinner: the ones who don’t leave may indicate they have not eaten enough. India, Europe, Australia, South America, and North America: rude, the guest only wanted to eat but wouldn’t enjoy the host or guests

20. punctuality highly regarded in many developed nations, (perhaps infamously) Germany, UK, USA Europe, Asia - because of huge traffic problems, clock time is less strictly adhered to Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa, it is normal, or at least widely tolerated, to arrive half an hour late for a dinner (G, USA – rude!)

21. Women... You’ve put on weight! Africa, Arab cultures, some South American: she is physically healthier than before Vs more polite and flattering to remark they have lost weight or look younger

22. eye-contact Avoiding = sign of respect Or boredom, shame, Eye-contact = aggression, dominance

23. offering Persian and Pakistani culture, if a person offers an item (i.e a drink), it is customary to not instantly accept it In many other cultures, it would be considered polite for the person offering to only ask once, so as to respect the other person's wish when the offer is declined

24. hugging common for heterosexual men in the Indian subcontinent and most parts of the Arab world to hug each other, sit with arms over the shoulder or walk while holding hands regarded as homosexual behaviour in the West and some Asian cultures such as China, Indonesia and Japan.

25. In the public eye holding hands in public are uncommon or frowned upon and hugging unacceptable. In many Western and Westernised nations, especially urban centres, this is common and considered harmless. couples kissing, even quite passionately, in public in the Western countries but such an action may cause consternation, alarm or even legal action in African and Asian countries.